The Journey Home

by K'Anne Meinel

  She locked the doors on the well house and then the garage and headed inside noting that the lights were off in the ‘girls’ room. She laughed, there had never been ‘girls’ only one girl, herself. Her father and his brothers had grown up in this house and that was why the big front room had been the ‘boys’ room for their three beds. It was now storage since she hadn’t used it and Cal hadn’t lived at home much less slept indoors in years. She thought about her guests and wondered what other changes they would bring her in the coming time.

  She locked the back door behind her as she checked that the stove was off and turned out the light in the kitchen. She blew out her lantern and left it on its hook by the door before heading downstairs to bank the fire for the night so it would burn and heat the house. It took relatively little fire to keep this heater going and only in the deepest of winter did they also need the fire in the kitchen or the one in the living room. They stocked all their own wood and with woods surrounding them had plenty for years to come. She eyed the pile of wood ash and was pleased that there would be plenty for Stephanie to make soap if she wanted to.

  Turning out lights as she headed upstairs she could hear that Stephanie was out of the bathtub as the water gurgled down the pipes and out of the house. She had taken off her boots from the barn and now wore slippers that were very similar to moccasins. She was still wearing the men’s pants she had worn to town but would change into overalls to work around the farm tomorrow, right now though she looked forward to taking a bath. She would wash her hair on Sunday morning although she felt like she needed it now. Stephanie smiled and asked, “All locked up?” as she entered the bedroom.

  “Yup, everything’s settled in for the night,” she answered, not used to her own voice she had been alone so long. She was pleased though to have them there. She had been lonely for a long time with just her animals to take care of and the farm. Occasionally seeing Cal and more often town folks or neighbors she had no one really to talk to. She saw people since she traveled around the area but not enough to really satisfy the loneliness since her mother’s death. “There will probably be a storm tomorrow so I brought all the animals into the barn,” she informed Stephanie as she gathered her nightclothes from where they were draped over the end of the bed.

  “You know there is going to be a storm?” the blonde asked surprised.

  “Yup, I can feel it in my bones and smell it on the wind. There’s clouds piling up to the west and the north so I’m fairly certain there will be some snow before morning.” She turned to head to the bathroom for her own anticipated bath. “We may want to stay close to the house tomorrow and keep your boys inside.”

  Stephanie nodded as she watched Cass head down the hall. She herself was brushing out her long blonde hair as she sat on the edge of the bed. She made sure to count the strokes as her mother had taught her long ago. It made her blonde hair soft and silky as she gathered it loosely to sleep in. In the morning she would brush it again and pin it up in a bun at the nape of her neck.

  Cass enjoyed soaking in the hot water, there wasn’t much left in the water heater after the other two baths but enough that she got one. She would take a long hot one Sunday morning when she washed her hair. It would take all night for the water to heat up in the large barrel in the basement. By morning they could all take a hot bath again but that would be unnecessary. She thought about her guests and hoped they would stay for a while. She did need a housekeeper. What she also needed though was a friend, a partner, someone to talk to, to confide in.

  She had almost been married once but he died in a flu epidemic at 18 and she had never found anyone she wanted to marry again. In a time when marriage was paramount she was an oddity in their small community. Her mother had always said to be true to herself and she wouldn’t settle. Many single farmers in the area and as far away as Brokaw and Marathon and even Medford had tried to court her but she found none of them appealed to her. She had been better off alone in the long run than settle with the wrong man. Her best friend Marabelle had settled and was sadly married to the wrong man. Thoughts of Marabelle always made Cass unhappy and she quickly pushed them away. She again thought about Stephanie Evans and wondered if God perhaps had sent her for some reason, for the reason but she quickly pushed that thought out of her mind as well. It was rare for that to happen twice in someone’s life and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t happen again in hers.

  She entered her bedroom and found Stephanie already dozing on the left side of the bed. That was good because she liked sleeping on the right. The overhead light was off and the lamp on the side table glowed softly casting a glow on Stephanie’s face as she lay there. Cass thought she looked beautiful as she gazed at her before Stephanie became aware of her presence. Cass blushed to be caught staring and quickly got into bed and turned off the lamp.

  “Cass?” Stephanie asked softly behind her.

  Even her voice sounded beautiful Cass thought as she answered over her shoulder, “Yes?”

  “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. I hope you don’t regret your offer.”

  “You’re welcome, it won’t be easy but at least you have a place and I really do need the help,” she answered carefully.

  “Good Night Cass,” Stephanie said in her soft beautiful voice.

  “Good Night Stephanie,” Cass answered snuggling into her pillow.

  They didn’t sleep long. The storm hit and unfortunately there was lightning and thunder mixed with the snow. The boys heard it. The strange bed and the strange room added to their fear and their cries for Mommy were immediately answered by Stephanie. They all ended up back in the master bedroom with the boys clinging to Stephanie and her apologizing profusely for it. Cass shrugged it off and hoped that the rest of the night would be uneventful. It was not to be though as she heard Shia barking furiously about four o’clock in the morning. She quickly grabbed her robe and headed downstairs as she heard pounding on the kitchen door. She turned on lights as she rushed down there seeing a man looking through the window in the door and pounding at the same time.

  “Raymond?” she asked confused as she unlocked the door and opened it. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s Melanie, she’s gone into labor and Doc Stettin is down in Brokaw fixing some damn fools leg who broke it climbing rocks.”

  She shook her head. “I’ll get dressed; you come in out of that storm and warm up.”

  She headed upstairs but stopped seeing Stephanie making her way down them her belly out before her. “There’s an emergency, I have to go deliver a baby. Could you make coffee for me to take along?” she asked as she let Stephanie pass her.

  Stephanie nodded as she made her way into the kitchen staring at the strange man who looked equally startled to see her there.

  “I’m Raymond Raul, my wife Melanie’s in labor and Doc’s too far away to be of any help. I came to get Cass. Melanie prefers Cass anyway,” he explained in a rush as he blushed.

  Stephanie nodded as though she understood but she didn’t. “I’m Stephanie Evans, I’m Cass’s new housekeeper,” she explained.

  They shook hands and Stephanie turned on the stove to get it hot as she filled the coffeepot with hot tap water and set it on the stove. She got coffee from the can and dumped the grounds into the pot. She looked around and found a thermos that she could use as she listened for sounds from upstairs as Cass got dressed. She came downstairs in the same clothes she had worn the day before and a full apron she was stuffing into a little black bag. Stephanie poured the coffee into the thermos as Cass quickly drank some from a cup. Raymond hastily drank some as well.

  “How bad is it out there?” Cass asked Raymond.

  “It’s bad,” he nodded, “Can’t see but ten feet in front of your face,” he added. “I got my bay, it will carry double.”

  Cass nodded. She knew the value of a good horse that would take them home. She had been about to go saddle her own but knew that would take valuable time and her chestnut didn’t know the
way. They both bundled up and headed out into the storm, Stephanie watching until the storm swallowed them up at the bottom of the steps. She shook her head wondering why the man had come for Cass except she was probably the only female around for miles. She put the coffee at the back of the stove for morning and made sure the stove was off before heading back up the steep steps to bed curling up around her boys who hadn’t moved in all the commotion.

  It was cold; the wind was blowing through them, not bothering to go around them. The bay did indeed know the way and stepped surefootedly on the path through the woods not bothering with the longer route by the road. Cass held onto Raymond on the back and wished she was back in her warm bed knowing this could be a long morning. Melanie had done this to her twice before taking her from her bed in the middle of the night. She had promised to call Doc Stettin this time. Many women preferred Cass to deliver their babies to having Doc Stettin deliver them. They knew that Cass had been trained by her mother, a well-known midwife in the area. It provided Cass and her mother with extra income and while it didn’t endear either woman to Doc Stettin he knew the patients were well taken care of. His own wife had delivered his last son with Mrs. Scheimers help despite the fact that he was breech and early. Doc Stettin had come too late to help, never expecting his wife to go into labor so early and him out on another case. Mrs. Scheimer had not only saved his wife but his small premature son. He knew her skill and that she had carefully taught her daughter Cass. Furthermore, the rudimentary skills Cass had learned as a backwoods doctor from both Doc Stettin, her mother, and one or two of the Indians had stood her in good stead in caring for some of the more remote people living out in the Big Woods.

  It didn’t seem that long until they were pulling up in front of a log barn and stiffly getting off the bay. Cass hurried towards the log house as Raymond led his bay into the barn. She let herself into the small house and went immediately to the bed as she took off her heavy outer clothes. She dropped her bag as she assessed the woman on the bed who was breathing heavily and in obvious pain. “Well Melanie you did it to me again didn’t you?” she asked by way of greeting.

  The sweaty woman smiled weakly as she answered; “I didn’t do it on purpose…” she began before a pain stopped her.

  “That’s what you said the last two times,” Cass smiled as she tied on her apron and bent to examine the woman. She was surprised to see the head of the baby. “Come on let’s get you up. You almost had this one without anyone in attendance,” she laughed as she helped Melanie to the edge of the bed and pulled a blanket from the bed. Cass was a big proponent of the Indian style of birthing. It only made sense to her to bear down and out and laying on your back you couldn’t use the same muscles. All her patients were used to her style of birthing and many agreed with her. If they weren’t strong enough to squat they could sit on the edge of the bed at least and many times she had sat behind them to help. She quickly washed her hands and arms with a disinfectant.

  Raymond came in with a swirl of snow. “Can I help?” he asked surprised to see his wife already squatting.

  “Get newspapers and start heating water,” Cass told him absentmindedly as she watched Melanie closely.

  “Oh this one hurts,” Melanie blanched at the pain and Cass held her hands as she squeezed hard.

  “Bear down, you know the routine,” Cass told her as she helped her.

  Raymond rushed in with newspapers and spread them on the floor over the blanket between the squatting woman’s legs. He left just as quickly.

  It was just in time as a gush of water came from the straining woman and onto the newspapers which quickly absorbed the mess. “I can feel it moving,” Melanie said through clenched teeth as Cass gently put her hand on the baby’s head to guide it. She caught it as with one big push Melanie expelled the baby from her body. She leaned back against the bed with a groan as Cass examined the little girl and began to clean her using the edge of a newspaper that hadn’t gotten wet.

  “Well, you got the girl you wanted,” Cass said as she gently cleaned her.

  Raymond rushed in with a pot of water and rags handing them to Cass who checked the water before using it on the newborn. The baby started to cry at the touch of the water and the loss of warmth from its comfortable place in its mother’s womb. Both parents smiled and exchanged a look as they looked on the squalling infant. Cass expertly cleaned and clamped off the cord before cutting it with a sharp knife from her black bag. She wrapped the baby in the cloths her daddy handed the midwife and then handed the swaddled baby to her daddy. She then turned to the mother who was still in pain. “Come on push some more,” she encouraged Melanie who pushed the afterbirth out and onto the now soaked papers. Cass quickly wrapped the papers around the ugly afterbirth. She gently pushed Melanie back onto the bed and cleaned up between her legs examining her to check for rips or tears. She packed extra rags between the woman’s legs and tied them on before lowering the gown and tucking her under the covers. Raymond handed her another blanket with one hand his other holding his infant daughter as easily as he had his sons. The mother was shivering in reaction but proudly looked at her daughter as her husband handed the little girl to her to hold for the first time.

  “Ah, isn’t she a grand beauty,” Melanie said, a trace of brogue in her voice as she admired the baby.

  Cass smiled. She had heard various versions of that very phrase many times. It always pleased her. She herself would probably never know the experience but she could understand the pride behind it. They had created this little girl through their love and would watch her grow. Cass washed herself up and took off her apron. She wrapped it within itself; the gore on the front could be boiled out when she got home. She gathered the papers on the floor and wrapped them into a bundle handing them to Raymond to dispose of in the fire. Discretely she stood back, her black bag once again holding her apron, the instruments inside fortunately not needed this time. She watched the little family for a while until Raymond returned.

  “That was so quick, I’ll go get my bay ready and take you home,” he said.

  “Thank you that would be fine.” She pulled the thermos out and took a drink of the still hot coffee. Raymond went out into the storm. Their little mantle clock chimed the half hour and Cass looked to see it was only half past five in the morning. “What are you going to name her?” she asked.

  “Well, I didn’t pick out many girl names. I didn’t want to get my hopes up but Raymond wants to name her Charlotte after his mother,” her voice betrayed her unhappiness at that thought. She didn’t like her mother-in-law.

  “What name do you like?” Cass asked amused.

  “I’ve always like the name Melody,” she said shyly.

  Cass thought over the name. Melody. Very close to her mother’s name of Melanie. Cass liked it. “That’s pretty. I hope you and Raymond agree. Let me know so I can put it in the book in Merrill with the right name.” That was part of her job as mid-wife to record the births and even sometimes the deaths so there were records for the government.

  The ride home seemed to take longer even though the sun was coming up. The bay wasn’t happy to be going out again in the blowing snowstorm and the occasional lightning and thunder didn’t make any of them happy. Cass was thrilled to arrive back at home. She placed her bag in the screen porch and headed out to do her chores taking the milk bucket from its hook inside the screen porch.

  Stephanie awoke slowly. It had been a long night but an equally long day and for a moment she felt disoriented until she realized she was in Cass Scheimer’s home and in her bed with her two little boys. She was so grateful for the blessings bestowed on them after realizing the horrible man that Vince Lancaster had turned out to be. She would have to pay back Cass though for her kindness in providing her a home. She better get up and earn it. Carefully she raised her head to see it was already seven a.m.! Well past the time she should be up. It was then that she realized that Stephanie hadn’t come back to bed. Had she even come back home yet?


  Stephanie slipped out of the bed being careful not to wake the still sleeping boys. The way they were sprawled on the bed perhaps Cass had decided to sleep in the den after all. That thought made Stephanie feel bad. They were imposing on the generosity of this kind woman, taking her bed was not part of the deal. She hurried to dress in a common day dress, her traveling dress needed washing and she quickly pulled on her stockings and buttoned up her shoes before hurrying to the bathroom with a small bag and sitting down on the commode while she brushed her hair. She rubbed her teeth with baking soda and her small tooth brush. She would have to buy some paste when they went into a town again although she didn’t know when that would be. Cass had mentioned they were only a few miles from a small town called Merrill. She returned her bag to the bedroom, checked on the boys once more, and then hurried downstairs to start breakfast. There was a bucket of milk on the counter and a basket of fresh eggs. She put on the coffee pot to bring it to a boil before she went in search of Cass, finding her sprawled on the couch in the den. Stephanie covered her with a knit blanket that had been neatly folded on a shelf.

  She started the bacon she shaved off the side of pork she found hanging in the pantry. It was getting down to the gristle and wouldn’t last long. She wondered if Cass had more meat in barrels or would they have to buy more? She saw that there was no bread and thought she should start sourdough and perhaps make a baking of white bread later today but she needed to talk to Cass to see what she wanted her to do. She didn’t want to overstep her boundaries but she didn’t know what those boundaries were. With the bacon finished and on a towel drying she wanted to start the eggs frying but wanted someone to eat them while it was hot so she turned off the electric stove and set the table before going upstairs to wake the boys and dress them for the day. As she dressed them she glanced outside and saw that Cass had been right and it was indeed snowing, coming down with big flakes the size of fingers in a circle. They looked huge. Neither of the boys wanted to be woken but she teased and tickled them awake and they were soon bouncing and she was shushing them, ever aware that the bedroom was over the den where Cass was sleeping.